Why I Quit My 6-figure Job and Decide to Lying Flat in 2022?

A Letter to My Future Self

Dear Zake,

I’m the 29-year-old of you from 2022, how have you been? Since 2015, I have decided to take a day every month to reflect on work, life, relationship, and mental clarity. This is the 65th mail that I’m writing to you.

Why I Quit My 6-figure Job and Decide to Lying Flat in 2022?

If you have read my last letter, you know that some “STILL POINTS” in my life are fading away as time passes. I used to be a productive blogger back in 2017, writing daily self reflections every night after work, and always looking for that 1% progression in every part of my life.

As we get older, things usually get complicated, there are more information waiting for you to swallow and more distraction than ever with smartphone and Internet around. To be honest, I miss the old days. And realizing that I’m about to turn 30 next year, only gives me more stress and anxiety. I’m a failure if put into some traditional perspectives.

Are you making at least 100K a year?

Do you own an apartment/house in top tier cities?

What car are you driving?

How about your house/car debt situation?

What’s your commercial insurance status?

Are you parents or other family healthy, alive and well?

What’s your social status? Your title? And how people react to your name?

I can go on and on with this question list… And none of the questions are about humanity, happiness and love. Personally, I care more about mental health than just physical, I care more about being happy than being rich every day, I care more about the relationship between me and my family, my other half and children if I might have in the future.

As the so-called “high paid high pressure” job takes(wastes) me more time and drains more energy, I just couldn’t keep up with the pace that being a top-tier employee while being an idealist, doing things I’m interested in and pursuing the lifestyle I enjoy.

So with more than a year or two of daily expense savings, and the guts that say “I can make a better living on my own”, I quit my 6-figure product management job at ByteDance in Shenzhen.

Although the road ahead is not perfectly clear, I feel lucky and blessed making the decision, and earn back my time and energy. So here I am, protecting my “STILL POINTS” and writing this letter once again.

Building a Healthy Routine is NOT EASY

I quit the job back in mid-June, with little time left, we went on a trip to Kashgar, Xinjiang, climbing 7546m Mt.Muztagh Ata. This is one of the highlights of my 2022, we trained hard for 3–4 months before going to the mountain, running 10K, climbing stairs with 20kg, even with mask on to block half of the oxygen intake. And we did experience every bit of the benefit of it on the mountain. 🫡

Here’s the full documentary of our climb, now I can officially call myself a national climbing athlete.

Officially there’s no time difference between Kashgar and Shenzhen, but the sunset in Xinjiang usually is about 11PM, the 4–5 hour difference still has the influence on me.

Although I finally left the 996 grinds, the bad habits are still on me. Scroll social feeds with no intentions at night, always want to stay up longer for more personal time, gaming or even just awake without any disturbance. These things are like stains that stick with you, which can’t easily get removed just by leaving the environment.

I decided to shake them off with some 30-day challenges, here’re some ongoing projects:

1. Build a new daily routine: Study session 5:30AM-11:30AM, bedtime 12PM (I bought a traditional alarm clock to wake me up instead of cellphone, and set up a lofi music study room livestreaming channel)
2. Fix my body posture: I have rib flare for more than 10 years, and a hunchback after all these years sitting in front of a desk and screen. These are due to bad breathing habits and weak muscles. Since I hurt my ACL again during a BJJ sparring lately, and can’t really compete for the rest of 2022, I get a personal coach to fix all my body problems every afternoon. I want to fix all my body problems and build like a tank before getting back on mat.
3. Play the cello: Cello has been my dream instrument to play since I have memory, but I never get a chance to try. I bought an entry-level cello and started learning with a teacher this week.

Besides, I’m also working on the next life exploration workshop and a new one focusing on video editing. Constantly improving my video quality, pace and content scarcity, will also help me get better ad clients and sponsorships.

Anxiety After Quitting your Job

I want to mention this type of anxiety, because I’m literally tortured by it every night before falling asleep. If you are planning on quitting job, you’d better prepare for it.

There’s Voice A saying: Another day has passed, you make 0 money, yet spend hundreds or thousands every day, not only on food but your hobbies. What’s your plan on making ends meet? Your hobbies all seem costly, and never will pay back what you have put into…

Here comes Voice B: “It’s all about the long term.” This is what you have been thinking of doing for a very long time. All these hobbies that are seeds you plant today, will have a much bigger impact later in your life, besides you are enjoying the process, life is not wasted. Double down on things you want to do for the rest of your days, and start making a business of that… Patience

I bet these 2 voices are all around people who just quit their job and don’t know what to do next. The cause of anxiety comes from uncertainty and lack of positive feedback.

Scrolling social feeds on cellphone, playing video games, or even traveling to new places may ease the pain in the short run, but will never solve the problem.

I encourage everyone to make the use of Internet on the positive sides, and start from there, here’s what I’ve been doing:

1. Livestreaming your study and work sessions, hold yourself accountable;
2. Share what you’ve been doing, thinking and planning next weekly or monthly (like this one🙌);
3. Have a small team working together and make DEADLINES (especially for business related work)

Leaving Shenzhen

Yes, since I go freelance and don’t have to physically be in an office. We decide to move to places that are close to nature and have a lower living cost.

Ling can produce better commercial photos and yoga projects, and I can make more hiking/climbing outdoor content, work study with less distraction. Here’re 5 simple criteria (the list may add more…)

1. Have rich nature and outdoor resource;
2. Convenient transportation (airports & high-speed railway);
3. Living standard is lower than Shenzhen;
4. Have good Brazilian Jiujitsu clubs;
5. Have good professional swimming pools;

We are considering Chengdu, Dali, Wanning, and maybe other countries after the Covid travel restriction is canceled, and plan to go and live in these cities for a while as research later this year. If you have better options, let us know! 🖐

LIFE IS A DRUG. LOVE IT. LIVE IT.
Zake